The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee

12/10/2025

Lion Taming 🦁 Definition: Teaching shy or spicy kittens that humans are worth cuddling with. This is the face of a kitten who is secretly enjoying the scratches but doesn’t want to admit it (chose to stay instead of jumping out of my lap)

12/09/2025

Take a tour of our website with me to see our current adoptables, adoption form and donation section!

12/07/2025

We love sharing adoption updates, but this one is especially close to our hearts. 💔➡️❤️

Stella came into our care in terrible shape—emaciated, suffering from a severe upper respiratory infection, and found lying in the middle of the road, quite literally trying to die. When we picked her up in Esquimalt, with no owner and no obvious future, we truly believed we were taking her to the vet to be euthanized.

But sweet Stella had a spark inside her that surprised us all.

For the first month, we lovingly nicknamed her the Hot Mess Express—a title reserved for only the most extraordinary little fighters who come through our doors. With time, intensive veterinary care, a mountain of medications, and an unbelievable amount of love, Stella slowly healed. Today, she is thriving in her forever home with her big sister Ellie and her wonderful mom, Darlene. We truly can’t thank Darlene enough for giving Stella the beautiful life she so deeply deserves.

Stories like Stella’s are why we do this—but they are also why this work is so costly. Multiple vet visits and months in care add up quickly, and sadly, it does limit how many critical cases we can take on at one time.

November’s donation drive meant the world to us, and with December being a time for families, we’re keeping fundraising gentle this month. That said, if anyone would still like to support our work, our December raffle is open:

https://www.rafflebox.ca/raffle/ibkc6

With so much love and gratitude—from Stella and her family. 💕

12/06/2025

This is Sam. Sam’s biscuit quality is directly fuelled by the amout of pets received 🐾🩷

12/04/2025

Just the sweetest kitty family to brighten up this dreary Thursday 🐾🩷🐾

12/04/2025

What's the best of all worlds. A Christmas gift AND you can help the animals at the same time.

Itty Bitty Kitty Committee got in a large donation of brand new stuffed animals to sell as a fundraiser. All money raised goes to help kittens like Rupert who was found outside as a wee baby.

Come to the clinic at 811 Bay Street and buy a stuffed animal for Christmas and help raise money for the animals.

We are open 7 days a week from 8am to 5pm.

12/04/2025

Let's keep all of our pets safe and in their homes

🎄✨ December’s here, let’s spread some cheer! ✨🎄

All month long, we’ve got a deal so bright —
Microchips for just $35, to keep your pets safe day and night!

If your kitty likes to wander or your pup loves to roam,
A tiny microchip is the best way to help them get home. 🐾❤️

So jingle on over to Harbour Veterinary Clinic this December,
A quick, safe microchip is a gift you’ll always remember!

💲 $35 microchips
📍 Book by phone. 250.580.2322

Keep them safe. Keep them found. Keep them home. 🐶🐱✨

12/04/2025

Two teeny bottle babies are almost ready to start the next chapter… and we’re doing something a little different this time. 🍼💛

A couple of months ago, two little boys came into IBKC at just a couple of days old—the kind of tiny that fits in one hand, needs feeding around the clock, and makes you hold your breath with every gram gained. They were bottle-fed, kept warm, kept clean, and loved through all the exhausting, magical newborn stages.

And now? They’re wiggly, curious, thriving little weirdos who are almost adoption-ready. 🐾

Here’s the thing: they’re not technically “bonded” (we’re always careful with that word), but they have grown up side-by-side since basically birth—and we would love to see them land in a home together. So we’re starting the search a few days earlier than usual to try to make that happen.

✅ At this time, we are ONLY considering applicants who want to adopt BOTH kittens together.
This is a package deal—double the joy, double the chaos, double the purring.

If you’ve been thinking, “I want two kittens, and I want to do it right,” this is your sign. Two kittens often means:

built-in playmate (less lonely, less bored)

better confidence as they grow

fewer “I’m going to parkour off your face at 3am” moments (…fewer, not zero 😅)

Interested in being considered? Submit an application on our website and specify that you are interested in adopting Roland & Rupert together 🥰 https://ibkc.ca/current-adoptables/

12/04/2025

Gravel Alley – Cider Spills All the Tea

Hi, I’m Cider: ex–alley reporter, current purr-powered talk show host.

I didn’t start in Gravel Alley. I was a porch cat with a bowl, a routine, and a front-row seat to neighbourhood drama… until the boxes came, the car left, and I was still on the step.

So I did what any chatty survivor would do: followed my nose. Pizza place → fish and chips → that one dumpster that smelled like regret but also chicken… and I landed in Gravel Alley. Rough ground, loud nights, good gossip.

I became the unofficial news anchor: who’s hiding a litter, who screams when a leaf blows by (not naming names, it was totally him), which raccoon runs the midnight snack bar.

Then the IBKC humans showed up. Soft voices. Pockets full of snacks.

Everyone else: “Careful, Cider.”
Me, seeing a drop trap with fancy canned food: “I’m just investigating this for journalism.”

Trap drops. I scream. I flail. I file a complaint with management… and then suddenly I’m in a warm room, on a soft bed, with food arriving in bowls instead of dumpsters.

I started purring so hard my ribs rattled. They were prepared for feral; they got a clingy orange extrovert who thinks every human is a podcast guest.

My hobbies now: following you like an orange exclamation mark, narrating everything you do (“Oh, you're at the fridge again? Relatable.”), .

IBKC took one look at me and said “Yeah, this one? He’s done with the streets.”
_______________________________________
UPDATE: BREAKING NEWS FROM THE SOFA DESK

So, um… plot twist.

Remember how I said I was just here “temporarily” while the humans did their little responsible TNR paperwork situation?

Yeah. No.

Turns out my foster family has no professional boundaries and I have elite persuasion skills. I hosted one (1) cuddle session, delivered a few perfectly-timed head boops, did my signature “follow-you-to-the-bathroom like a loyal orange shadow” move… and suddenly there were whispered meetings like, “I can’t imagine him leaving.”

Reader? Neither can I.

So it’s official: I’m adopted. Permanently booked. Full-time household correspondent. I have a family now—one that doesn’t pack boxes and disappear. One that knows my snack schedule, respects my need to narrate their entire day, and has accepted that their home is now also a studio.

Gravel Alley gave me material.

This family gave me my happy ending.

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Gravel Alley is home to a colony of street cats who are part of IBKC’s TNR project—Most of the cats we trap are truly feral and go right back to their alley homes once they’re fixed and feeling better.

But every once in a while, someone like Cider steps into a trap and makes it clear he’s ready to trade street smarts for sofa time. Those lottery winners join our adoption program instead of going back to the alley.

12/03/2025

🐾 NEW: Seniors on GIS Now Qualify for Low-Income Spay/Neuter Support! 🐾

We’re excited to announce that our Low-Income Spay and Neuter Program is now open to seniors who receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS).

Because seniors love their pets too — and every pet deserves accessible vet care. 💙

If you’re a GIS recipient and need help getting your cat or dog fixed, we’re here for you.
This program helps reduce the financial burden while supporting responsible pet ownership in our community.

👉 Apply online at www.ibkc.ca

👉 Proof of GIS is required
👉 Limited funding available

Together, we can keep pets healthy, safe, and loved. 💕🐶🐱

12/02/2025

WE DID ITTTT. 🥳 November’s matching fundraiser closed at $17,355.33 — and our anonymous donors are DOUBLING IT, which means this community just casually turned that into $34,710.66 for the animals. I’m sorry??? Who are you people and can I hug you all?? 😭👏

Now, about these photos.

I’d like to officially announce that I have made a very responsible, very mature financial decision:
I spent the entire $17,355.33 on ONE (1) pure-bred puppy named Arriba.

No programs. No clinic needs. No cat food. No medical supplies.
Just Arriba.
Because look at her face. She has the face of someone who understands budgets… and chooses chaos anyway. 💅🐶

BUT WAIT—before anyone starts drafting my true-crime documentary😂🚧 :

Arriba is not, in fact, a designer dog purchased with fundraiser money.
She is a pure-bred mutt (the best breed), she just came into rescue, and she’ll be available for adoption very soon. She’s basically here to serve as our tiny, wiggly celebration confetti cannon. 🎉

The real story is this:

Donations had slowed. We were in that “uh oh” zone. And then, when it really counted, you all showed up HARD. Like… community superhero levels of showing up. People donated, shared, tagged friends, cheered us on, and helped push this fundraiser across the finish line — and because of the match, every single dollar just went twice as far.

So from all of us at IBKC: thank you for being the reason we can keep doing this work. Thank you for having our backs when the need is big and the timing is tight. Thank you for making “we might be able to…” turn into “we DID.” 💛

Arriba sends her gratitude too, although her gratitude looks a lot like:

zoomies

optimism

attempting to be held like a baby at all times

We’re celebrating tonight. And we’re getting back to work tomorrow — with a whole lot more fuel in the tank because of you. 🥂

FINAL TOTAL: $17,355.33
DOUBLED TOTAL: $34,710.66
This is what “the village” looks like. 🙌✨

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Edit: its been brought to our attention that the joking tone of this post was not clear to all, so to clarify any concerns: we did not in fact purchase this puppy, she was transferred to us from an overwhelmed rescue who needed help. She is not pure bred, no money changed hands (only treats!), and we would never actually spend donation money on anything other than rescue expenses. The post was meant to bring a chuckle to your day (and an "aww" with cute puppy pics), and we apologize for any confusion caused 🥰

12/01/2025

Round two of we can do this the easy way or the hardest way! 🐾😅 These sweet teens are up for adoption at 811 Bay St. They’d love a home for the holidays ❄️